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1873: One of the first Western trained researcher of religion and reputed to be modern Japan’s father of the science of religion, Masaharu Anesaki was born in central Kyoto, Japan on 25 July as an eldest son of Masamori Anesaki. In his own biographical table Anesaki refers to his father as the “shizoku, Kyoto Prefecture” (Anesaki, Waga 202), describing him as an excellent and reliable artist patronized by the Bukkoji temple, creating Buddhist paintings. (Shizoku means “belonging to the samurai class.”) The birth address (at present): Bukkoji-dori Yanagi-banba Nish-iru Tozen-cho, Kyoto City; the present house at the address is “Photoshop Kamikawa.”

1879: Attends the Elementary Course of the Toyosono Primary School situated immediately adjacent to his home, which he finishes at the top of his year in 1883, much to the admiration of the grandmother.

1883: [Bunyu Nanjo 南條文雄 (1849-1927) publishes his English translation of The Catalogue of Chinese Translation of Buddhist Tripitaka, the Sacred Canon of the Buddhist in China 大明三蔵聖教目録 Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press, 1883, which is widely known as his “Nanjo-Catalog.”]

1884: Leaves halfway the Middle Course of the the Toyosono Primary School.

1885: At age eleven, enters the Ryuka-juku 劉家塾 and sodoku-reads the Five Classics of Confucianism. Enters (in this year?) Oriental Hall founded by Kinza Hirai 平井金三 (1859-1916) as an English school which Hirai intended to make it a rival school to Doshisha founded by Jo Ni-ijima. At school, Anesaki reads selections from Outlines of the World’s History by William Swinton, The History of England by David Hume, Education by Herbert Spencer, Representative Government by John Stuart Mill, The US History (authored by クワケンボス,クエッケンポス, or クロツケンボス) and so forth (Waga 33-35). As a result, together with Setsudo Kado, Anesaki is widely assumed to have been a disciple of Hirai (Yoshinaga 125).

1886: Accepted tentatively into the Special Course of the Third High School located in Chuo-ku of Osaka City, from which course he withdrew soon.

1887: [Arthur May Knapp arrives at Yokohama in latest December, being sent to Japan by the American Unitarian Association (AUA) (Tsuchiya 75-77) as “Missionary, A. U. A.” (Narita, Eriotto 55-56). Kinza Hirai calls in to Japan Henry Steel Olcott of the Theosophical Society (which was co-founded by Olcott and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (HPB) in 1875); Olcott stays in Japan during 2 February through 28 May (Yoshinaga 126). ]

1888: Admitted to the Preparatory Course of Dai San Koto Gakko (Third High School) under the old school system.

1890: [In his lecture in Boston, Mass., Kentaro Kaneko (who worked closely with Hirobumi Ito and later became first Prime Minister of Japan) requests the US to dispatch a Unitarian mission to Japan. The Imperial Rescript on Education issued on 30 October.]

1891: [On 9 January, “Uchimura Kanzo’s Fukei Jiken” (“UchimuraKanzōlèse-majesté Incident”) takes place. Anesaki advances to the Regular Course of Third High School, graduating from it in 1893. [Back in September 1889, the School was relocated to Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City.]

1893: In September, enters the Imperial University, Tokyo, the then only one university in Japan. Studies under Tetsujiro Inoue (1856-1944), Professor of Philosophy; Masakazu Toyama (1848-1900), Professor of Sociology; and philosopher Raphael von Koeber (1848-1923), who received the faculty appointment through recommendation from his friend Rudolph Hartmann. (Von Koeber started his life by studying at a music school at Moscow where he met Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein.) Anesaki befriends the would-be Nichirenist Chogyu Takayama 高山樗牛 (1871-1902), prospective novelists Rohan Koda (1867-1947) and Kyoka Izumi (1873-1939). Establishes the Philosophical Journal with Takayama and others. [On 8 May, Kinza Hirai delivers an address “Mahayana and Hinayana” at a meeting of the Theosophical Association held at Los Angeles, Calif. During 11-27 September, the World’s Parliament of Religions is held in Chicago in conjunction with the World’s Columbian Exposition of Chicago. Six Buddhists and two Christians participated in it from Japan; three people of the eight later converted to Unitarianism: Nobuta Kishimoto 岸本能武太 (1866-1928), Kinza Hirai (under whose tuition Anesaki once learned in Kyoto) and Zenshiro Noguchi. Hirai gives an address “The Real Position of Japanese toward Christianity” on 13 September; and “Synthetic Religion” on 26 September (etexts of these two addresses available on the web). During the Parliament Hirai befriends Jenkin Lloyd Jones, the leader of the Western Unitarian Conference (Yoshinaga 126-127).]

1894: Helps establish the Imperial Society of Literature. Anesaki is also known for the pen name Chofu Anesaki (姉崎潮風). “Chofu” is a Japanese counterpart for “gargoyle,” suggesting the surveying of the world from the roof top (Isomae 10). [On 25 March, the construction of the Unitarian Yuiitsukan completed at Mita-shikokumachi, Tokyo. The Sino-Japanese war breaks out on 1 August (-17 April 1895).]

1896: Graduates from the Department of Philosophy, the Imperial University, presenting the thesis “Buddha’s Person in its Historical and Religious Aspects.” Enrolls as a graduate student at the Imperial University in September with the research topic “Development of Religion.” Founds the Society of Comparative Religion with Nobuta Kishimoto.

1897: October-December: conducts the lecture course “Shukyo-byori Soron” (“A Pathological Introduction to Religion”) at the Senshin Gakuin 先進學院 (“Senshin Academy”) which was located at the Unity Hall 唯一館 (the center of the Unitarian Mission to Japan, situated quite near the Keio Gijuku campus). Senshin Gakuin had an English subtitle the “School for Advanced Learning.” On 4 December, Anesaki attends the welcome party held in honor of Clay MacCauley, Director, Senshin Gakuin. Anesaki publishes Indo Shukyo-shi 印度宗教史, Tokyo: Kinkoudo, 1897, 36 pages.

1898: On 18 February, sends off Hajime Onishi (as he starts for Europe) at Shinbashi Station, Tokyo together with Tokio Yokoi (1857-1927), Nobuta Kishimoto and so forth. In February, marries Masu Inoue, a niece and adopted daughter of Tetsujiro Inoue. “Vedanta 吠檀多 and Schopenhauer,” Tetsugaku Zasshi 哲学雑誌 (“Philosophical Journal“) 135 (March 1898): 355-376. Publishes Shukyo Tetsugaku宗教哲学 (“The Philosophy of Religion“), Tokyo: Hakubundo, 1898 (May), 394 pages, being a translation of Eduard von Hartmann’s Religionsphilosophie. This book emphasizes the scientific study of religion. Publishes Hikaku Shukyo-gaku 比較宗教学 (“The Science of Comparative Religion“), Tokyo: Tokyo-senmon-gakko, 1898, 344 pages. Publishes Indo Shukyoshi Ko印度宗教史考 (“A Study of the History of Indic Religion“), supervised by Tetsujiro Inoue, Tokyo: Kinkodo, 1898 (August), 813 pages. In October, when three Doshisha-related Unitarians Tomoyoshi Murai 村井知至 (1861-1944), Iso Abe 安部磯雄 (1865-1949) and Nobuta Kishimoto lead the way to found the Shakaishugi Kenkyu-kai 社会主義研究会 (“The Research Society of Socialism”) (Murai, President) at the Unity Hall 唯一館 near the Keio University campus of Shiba, Anesaki joins the Kenkyu-kai. Quite a few people joined it, including Jitsunen Saji 佐治実念然, Saichiro Kanda 神田佐一郎, Zen-nosuke Toyosaki, Kinza Hirai, Sen Katayama, Shusui Kotoku 幸徳秋水(1871-1911), Kiyoshi Kawakami, Masayoshi Takagi. Saji was a Buddhist monk and also President, the Unitarian Association of Japan; Kanda and Toyosaki were also Unitarian. The Unity Hall was the headquarter house of the Japan Association of Unitarians. Tomoyoshi Murai delivers “The Synopsis of Socialism” at the first session of the Kenkyu-kai held on 18 October. The purpose of the Kenkyukai is set forth as “the study of the principles of Socialism and the research into right and wrong concerning the application of the principles to Japan” (qtd Iguchi 114).

1900: [The Shakaishugi Kyokai 社会主義協会 (“The Association of Socialism”) established in January 1900; members: Iso Abe (President), Kiyoshi Kawakami, Sen Katayama, Toshihiko Sakai, Shusui Kotoku, Shoko Kinoshita and Kojiro Nishikawa. This Kyokai removes the headquarters from the Unity Hall to the Kingsley Hall (the location of Katayama’s own house at Kanda-misakicho in which Katayama operated his philanthropic Setsurumento (“settlement”). Which all came about due to a conflict of opinions between Unitarian members (like Sata and Kanda) and Doshisha-related members (like Abe, Murai and Kishimoto) (Iguchi 124).] In March, Anesaki publishes Shukyogaku Gairon 宗教學概論 (“An Introduction to the Study of Religion”), Tokyo: Tokyo Senmon Gakko Press, 1900, 590 pages; Anesaki says that he received much impetus from the book by Kishimoto Shukyo Kenkyu 宗教研究 (Waga 7-8). In March, Anesaki brings out JoseiIndo Shukyo Shi上世印度宗教史 (“Ancient Religion of India“), Tokyo: Hakubunkan, 1900, 304 pages. The Ministry of Education, Japan’s central Government sends Anesaki to study in Europe. On 31 March, Anesaki departs Yokohama for Marseille; Otoha Ohashi of Hakubunkan Publications accompanies Anesaki to Paris. Passengers included twelve or thirteen Japanese going to visit the Exhibition of Paris (Waga 108). [On 17 May, Kinza Hirai delivers an address “Religious Thought in Twentieth Century” at the Unitarian Association meeting held at Chicago (Yoshinaga 129), an address in which he asserts his theory developed later as “synthetic religion” (Yoshnaga 130-131). At Boston in late May, Hirai, while attending the 72nd American Unitarian Association meeting with Tomoyoshi Murai, gets furious about the way the Association treated him; on receiving the turndown about his claim from AUA President Samuel A. Eliot (T. S. Eliot’s relative), Hirai leaves Boston (Yoshinaga, Kanai-Kakenhi).] Anesaki, appointed Associate Professor at the Imperial University in May. In early June: Anesaki arrives at Kiel; at Kiel University, he starts studying under Paul Deussen (1845-1919), the disciple of Arthur Schopenhauer and a good friend of Friedrich Nietzsche and one of the founders of Indic studies in Europe. (Nietzsche condemned Deussen, though, for his being a lesser class of thinker, saying, “Most scholars are only industrial workers serving scholastics whereas those great scholars challenge to comprise the whole and thereby grasp the comprehensive point of view” (Morimoto 90). Anesaki frequently visits Deussen at his home (Isomae 35); while, in those days, Deussen had a serious problem with his eyes, Anesaki helps him translate the Gita into German (Waga 118; “Doisen-sensei” 684). Meets James H. Woods (1864-1935), who also studies under Deussen. Anesaki reads with the Indology scholar Hermann Oldenberg (1854-1920) as well. On 8 June, while hospitalized at Kiel, Anesaki hears of German Emperor Wilhelm II speaking on the topic the Yellow Peril (Hunnenrede). The Emperor went so far as to say, condemning Chinese, “Exterminate everything that is not rooted in Christianity” (Anesaki, Shinjidai 193-99). This incident, together with the serious criticism coming from Deussen regarding the contemporary German cultral trend (Waga 195), leads Anesaki to be decisively disillusioned with German culture. Anesaki recalls in 1920 that Deussen “condemed Wilhelm in a furiated huff” (“Doisen-sensei” 686). [Samuel A. Eliot (son of Charles W. Eliot, president of Harvard) is elected President, the American Unitarian Association (AUA).]

1901: In March leaves Kiel for Berlin. Completes the dissertation Genshin-butsutoHosshin-butsu現身佛と法身佛 (“UtsusemiBodhisattva and Buddha Himself (or Dharma Kaaya)”) during his stay in Berlin (Waga 121) (to be published in 1904 and 1925); by comparing the Chinese translation of Agamas 阿含(“agon“) with the Pali texts, Anesaki ascertains that the two Agama texts are identically the same and authentic evidence of historical Shakyamuni (Tomomatsu 33-34). [On 28 May, the Shakai Minshuto 社会民主党 (“Social-Democratic Party”) founded; founders were six people, including Iso Abe (President), Kiyoshi Kawakami, Sen Katayama, Shusui Kotoku, Shoko Kinoshita and Kojiro Nishikawa; five of them all Christians (that is except Kotoku).] In early October, Anesaki moves to Leipzig. On 25 December, fascinated by Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser held in Leipzig. In December in Berlin, meets Indologist Joseph Dahlmann, S. J. (1861-1930); Dahlman to be chosen in 1908 one of the three pioneering Jesuits coming to Japan to found Jochi Daigaku (Sophia University) in Tokyo. “Die Bedeutung des Hazna Matsuri (Blumenfest),” Ost-Asien, 4-2, (1901): 69-70.

1902: Meets the philosopher of the unconscious Eduard von Hartmann (1842-1906) on 8 January; blamed for his tendency to spiritualism by Hartmann; while visiting India, Anesaki visited Annie Besant in June 1902. Receives the news that the Imperial University, Tokyo awarded him his doctorate in literature. In March, leaves Leipzig for the Netherlands and London. In March in London, stays at Tufnel Park; Anesaki being a neighbor there of Bansui Doi, the eminent composer of Japan. Instead of studying at the university, tutors under T. W. Rhys Davids (1843-1922), the founder of the Pali Text Society and does his research in Sagatha-vagga at the Asiatic Society library and the British Museum. On 4 June, hears “with excitement” the activist and theosophist Annie Besant (1847-1922) make a speech, condemning England for imperialism (Isomae 251), crying “Give liberty to India!” (Waga 128). In Hamberg in September, makes his first presentation at an international conference “Der Sagatha-Vegga des Samyutta-Nikaya und seine chinesischen Versionen” (Congrès international des Orientalistes 13, 1902, [no pages irregularly given in Anesaki-sensei 135]). At Hamberg, meets Deussen; at Kiel, meets Deussen and his family. At Oxford, visits the theoretician of cultural evolutionism Edward B. Tylor (1832-1917) on 11 October. In October in London, meets James H. Woods, a student of Josiah Royce; Woods studies comparative religion under the philologist and Orientalist Max Müller (1823-1900) and under Deussen as well like Anesaki. Goes to Paris and soon leaves Naples for India. At Poona (Pune) near Mumbai, India, a reunion with Woods came about on 16 December. Travels widely in India with him.

1903: Through the good offices of an Oxford don William Spooner (1844-1930), Anesaki rents with Woods a big house in a “cantonment” (Waga 132) for a while beginning with 23 January. Attends a course of Vedanta in the morning and reads Yoga books with a Brahmin priest in the afternoon. On 1 March, parts from Woods. Travels with Sen-nichi Fujii 藤井宣日(Isomae 252). (However, cf. Sensho Fujii 藤井宣正(1859-1903) who traveled widely in India, joining the Otani Expedition dispatched in 1903 and who died in Marseille in 1903 on his way back to London from India (Asahi Nihon Rekishi Jinbutsu Jiten).) In mid-March, Anesaki visits Budh Gaya (Buddha Gaya) where Gotama Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment under the Juniper tree (Bodhi tree, ficus religiosus). At Kolkata, Anesaki meets the painter Taikan Yokoyama (1868-1958) at the house of Tagore. Goes to Darjeelin. Visits Annie Besant at her headquarters of the Society of Theosophy at Madras. In Mumbai, stays at the lodging house at which Ekai Kawaguchi (1866-1945), an exploring priest famed for his journey alone to Nepal, stays. On 16 April, leaves Mumbai for Kobe where he returns in early June. “Ceylon and Chinese” (“Correspondence”), The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (April 1903): 368-370; signed as “M. Anesaki/ Benares, Feb. 3, 1903. ” [In April, Thomas Lamb Eliot (1841-1936), uncle of T. S. Eliot arrives at Japan, dispatched by the Unitarian Association of America, to supervise the Unitarian mission in Japan (Narita, Eriotto 59-60). Saichiro Kanda, the virtual leader of the Association, wields his power to drive away from the organization the Doshisha-related members like Murai, Abe and Kishimoto (Iguchi 152).] At Kamakura near Tokyo on 24 June, Anesaki meets the surviving family of Chogyu Takayama who died on 24 December 1902 and pays his homage at Chogyu’s grave located within the Ryukaji Temple. Spends the summer at the Chitoseya Inn at Okitsu, Shizuoka-ken during 5 July and 30 August, enjoying the nearby sea-shore called Kiyomigata. “Jemuzu-shi no Shukyoteki Keiken-nitsuite 1 ジェームズ氏の『宗教的経験』に就いて 1” (“On the Religious Experience of Mr. James 1″), Tetsugaku Zasshi哲学雑誌 (“Philosophical Journal“) 201 (November 1903): 1-11. “Jemuzu-shi no Shukyoteki Keiken-nitsuite 2,” Tetsugaku 202 (December 1903): 7-16. In December, Anesaki criticizes the prevalent trend toward cowardice, a trend which would absolutely prefer lukewarm peace within the ordinary life.

1904: On 16 January, establishes as a co-editor with Tokio Yokoi a new quality magazine Jidai Shicho 時代思潮 (“Thought Trends“). The editorship is noteworthy since editors include discussion of the Russo-Japanese war, embracing an intention of confronting the two prevailing views as made public in the quality magazine Yorozuchoho 萬朝報 and the newspaper Heimin Shinbun 平民新聞. Years later, Anesaki confides that part of the purpose of the Jidai Shicho was to support Kinmochi Saionji (1849-1940) and his political movement; Saionji, (who as a boy used to be a playmate of what later became Emperor Meiji; and who twice became Prime Minister of Japan) was made President, Rikken Seiyukai in 1903 replacing Hirobumi Ito. In January, Anesaki brings out Fukkatsu no Shoko 復活の曙光 (“The Dawn of Resurrection”), Tokyo: Yuhokan, 1904, 306 pages. In January, as a co-editor with Shinzaku Saito, Anesaki publishes the first volume of Chogyu Zenshu 樗牛全集 (“The Collected Works of Chogyu Takayama“), Tokyo: Hakubunkan, January 1901; the “Preface” by the two editors dated 24 December 1903; the 5 volume set publication completed in April 1906; the first volume available at http://kindai.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/871937. The Russo-Japanese war breaks out on 8 February 1904 (-5 September 1905). Made Professor, the Imperial University in April. In October, publishes Genshin-butsutoHosshin-butsu 現身佛と法身佛 (“Utsusemi Bodhisattva and Buddha Himself (or Dharma Kaaya)),” Tokyo: Yuhokan, 1904, 288 pages.

1905: In March, creates the chair of religious studies at the Imperial University. [The Russo-Japanese war comes to an end on 5 September 1905.] In September, the lecture “Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde” (in Japanese) given at the Imperial University of Tokyo. In December, his first academic paper accepted and published by the academic journal abroad: “How Christianity Appeals to a Japanese Buddhist,” Hibbert Journal: A Quarterly Review of Religion, Theology and Philosophy 4-1 (1905): 1-8. Co-authors with James A. Edmunds Buddhist & Christian Gospels: Being Gospel Parallels from Pali Texts; Now First Compared with the Originals; Edited with Notes and Paralells from the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka, Third and Complete Edition, Tokyo: Yuhokwan, 1905, 248 pages; this third edition book available at http://archive.org/details/buddhistchristia00edmurich; at page i we read “Preface to the First Edition (1902)”; Anesaki here describes his name as “M. Anesaki” (titile page) and also “Anesaki Masahar” (p. xiii). Anesaki publishes Kyakuhon: Takiguchi-nyudo 脚本滝口入道, Tokyo: Shun-yodo, 1905, 145 pages.

1907: On 23 February, “Some Problems of Textual History of the Buddhist Scriptures” (lecture) given at the Asiatic Society session (Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, 35-2 (1908): 81-96). Travels widely in the US and Europe on the Kahn Scholarship. Leaves Japan for Seattle on 4 September; taking with him all the while a copy of manuscript “The Religious History of Japan: An Outline.” Stays at San Francisco and New Haven and leaves New York for le Havre on 21 November. Visits the Sorbonne and London. Departs from London in September, arriving at Kobe in October. Religious History of Japan: An Outline, With Two Appendixes on the Textual History of the Buddhist Scriptures (for private circulation), Tokyo, 1907, 48 pages. “The Four Buddhist Agamas in Chinese,” Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan (TASJ) 35-3 (1907): 1-150. Publishes Bi no Shukyo 美の宗教, Tokyo: Hakubundo, 1907, 487 pages.

1908: On 4 February, receives a letter from the philosopher William James. In March, leaves Paris for Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany, returning to Paris in June. On 30 May, visits Buddhist scholar, Karl Eugen Neumann (1865-1915). On 27 June, participates in the International Peace Association in London. In September, attends the 3rd International Conference of Religious Studies and Religious History held at Oxford. His presentations: “Buddhist Influences upon the Japanese Honen”; “Honen, the Pietist Saint of Japanese Buddhism, “Transactions of the Third International Congress for the History of Religion, 1 (1908): [no pages given in Anesaki-sensei 136]. The Four Buddhist Amagas in Chinese: A Concordance of their Parts and of the Corresponding Counterparts in the Pali Nikayas, [s. n.]. In September, leaves London for Japan, arriving at Kobe in October. “Some Prolems of the Textual History of the Buddhist Scriptures,” TASJ 35-2 (1908): 81-96. Contributions to Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, vols. 1-22 (1908- 1922), index volume 23 (1926), ed. James Hastings (chief editor), John A. Selbie and L. L. Gray, Edinburgh: T & T Clark. Anesaki’s contributions (during 1908- 1922) include “Docetism” (Buddhist), “Ethics and Morality” (Buddhist), “Hyms” (Japanese), “Life and Death” (Japanese), “Missions” (Buddhist), “Philosophy” (Japanese), “Prayer” (Japanese), “Transmigration” (Buddhist) and “Vows” (Buddhist). Six more items to be further added: “Asanga,” “Asvaghosa,” “Dhyana,” “Pilgrimage (Japanese),” “Tathagata” and “Sun, Moon and Star (Japanese).”

1910: [In July, Taigyaku Jiken (“The High Treason Incident”) takes place. Shusui Kotoku was executed for the alleged treason by the Japanese Government in 1911.] In July, Anesaki publishes Konpon Bukkyo根本仏教 (Buddhism in its Fundamental Features as a Religion), Tokyo: Hakubunsha, 1910, 408 pages (Anesaki, History xxi); in terms of comparing Pali texts with Chinese translation Agamas Anesaki advocates what he calls KonponBukkyo (“Fundamental Buddhism” or “Primitive Buddhism”). Ishi to Genshiki-toshiteno Sekai 意志と現識としての世界 or Ishi to Kasho toshite no Sekai 意志と仮象としての世界 (a translation into Japanese of Arthur Shopenhauer’s Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung), vols. 1-3, Tokyo: Hakubundo, 1910 (the set completed in 1911); the English translation title of the item is The World as Will and Representation; cf. vorstellen means to represent while verstellen means to adjust or pretend.

1911: On 14 February, issues an article strongly advocating the Southern Imperial Court as the legitimate one regarding the Southern/ Northern Imperial Court issue. On 16 May, Japan’s central government issues an imperial edict of the establishment of Literary Committee, Ministry of Education; its committeemen include Anesaki and representative men of literature like Kazutoshi Ueda (1867-1937), Yaichi Haga (1867-1927), Mori Ogai (1862-1922), Rohan Koda (1867-1947), Ueda Bin (1874-1916), Hogetsu Shimamura (1871-1911), Soho Tokutomi (1863-1957), Konami Iwaya (1877-1933) and Keigetsu Omachi (1869-1925). The Japanese diplomat Jutaro Komura (1855-1911) proposes a gift of the foundation for the establishment of the Harvard Club of Japan, bringing together Harvard Japanese graduates. This proposal helps found a chair at Harvard entitled “Japanese Literature and Life”; James H. Woods was in charge of the founding process.

1912: On 25 January, in order to “elevate national morality” Takejiro Tokonami (vice-minister, the Internal Ministry of Japan) convenes the Sankyo-kaido 三教会同 (Congregation of Three Groups of Religionists), consisting of Buddhists, Shintoists and Christians, receiving advice from Anesaki. With the Sankyo-kaido failing to function adequately due to the critique that establishment of the Congregation means Government’s intervention into religions, Anesaki much helps Tokonami by convening instead the Conference of Educators at the Imperial University on 30 January and holding the Conference of Religious Educators on 28 February (Isomae 61; Doi 102-103). In June, the Kiitsu Kyokai 帰一協会 (the Association Concordia) established; the founders included Ei-ichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), Tetsujiro Inoue, Jinzo Sakakibara, Kazutami Ukita (1860-1946), Sazaemon Morimura (1837-1919), Anesaki and so forth; the purpose: “Concord and cooperation between classes, nations, races and religions.” The Association Concordia of America established on 10 October by the psychologist John Dewey (1859-1952), Charles W. Eliot and so forth (Isomae 262). In Europe, supporters of the Association Concordia included Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920), Ernst Heinrich Häkel (1834-1919), Rudolph Eucken (1848-1926), Adolph von Harnack (1851-1930) and so forth (Ito 175). Anesaki recalls that the Concordia is the only one group with which he connected himself from the start (Waga 166). “La moderna civiltá dell’Europa,” Coenobium, 6-8 (1912): 1-31. “Soshinusu Reriusu oyobi Fausutusu” (“Socinus Relius and Faustus”), Tetsugaku Daijiten 哲学大辞典, Tokyo: Dobunkan, vol. 2 (1912): 1865.

1913: The stablishment of Harvard’s Japanese civilization chair officially decided on 13 March. Anesaki delivers “The Professorship of Japanese Literature and Life at Harvard University: Its Scope and Work” at the Harvard Club of Japan in Tokyo on 25 June. Made the First Representative of the Association Concordia in June. To conduct the Japanese civilization course at Harvard, Anesaki sails from Yokohama Port for Vancouver on 21 August. Gives a lecture in Vancouver on 31 August. On 24 September, a guidance given about the Harvard chair (“The Professorship of Japanese Literature and Life at Harvard University” and “The Schools of Religion and Philosophical Thought in Japan”); Keiki Yabuki 矢吹慶輝 (1879-1939) of Imperial University of Tokyo, assistant in charge. As for the detail of the professorship, see the synopsis by Anesaki entitled “Courses Proposed for the Chair on Japanese Literature and Life, for the Academic Year 1913-1914.” This consists of two parts: “I. General” and “II. Special”.

COURSES PROPOSED

for the Chair on Japanese Literature and Life,

in Harvard University,

for the

Academic Year 1913-1914

I. GENERAL:

Religious and Moral Development of the Japanese.

……………………………………………….Two hours a week, first half year.

A series of about thirteen lectures on the history of Japanese religion and morals, in their relations with social and political life and in their manifestations in arts and literature.

1. General Remarks, the People and their Phases of their Civilization.

2. Pre-historic Stage, Shinto and the Tribal System.

3. Introduction of Buddhism and its Establishment (550-800).

4. The Heian Period, the Age of Pomp and Splendor (800-1200).

5. The New Religion, the Agitation and Struggle (1200-1600).

6. The Tokugawa Shogunate, Peace and Order (1600-1867).

7. The New Era of Meiji, Progress and Problems (1868-1912).

II. SPECIAL:

a. Schools of Religious and Philosophical Thought in Japan, and their Connexions with those of India and China……………………………………….Two hours a week, whole year.

A combination of lectures and seminary work on the subject stated: analysis and criticism; comparisons with Western thought.

b. The Pali Texts and their Chinese Counterparts

………………………………………..One hour a week, whole year.

Studies of Buddhist texts from linguistic and doctrinal points of view.

c. Introduction to Japanese Poetry, with Language Lessons

………………………………………One hour a week, whole year.

Instruction to Japanese language through the tanka and the hokku, especially through the poems of Emperor Meiji.

……………………………………………..Professor M. Anesaki.

*Source: Isomae 67.

In his own curriculum vitae, Anesaki summarizes the course topics he taught as follows: “Religious History of Japan, Religion and Poetry, Buddhist Ethics and Thoughts of Buddhist Sects and So Forth” (Ibenshu 560).

As for instruction materials of the topic “Religion and Poetry” above, I consider it noteworthy that Anesaki included in it the noh play Hagoromo as well and the tanka pieces written not only by Shinran but also Nichiren (Isomae 68). The poet T. S. Eliot famously attended part of Anesaki’s courses (Kearns 22, 25, 76-84) as well as Indic classes of Charles Lanman and James H. Woods.

A speech entitled “An Address Delivered at the Reception of Foreign Students of Harvard” given at the welcome party for Harvard’s new entrants on 8 October, sponsored by the Phillips Brooks House. On 20 October, memorial services on the death of Kakuzo Tenshin Okakura held at Isabella Gardner’s house; the Buddhist sutra recitation chanted by Anesaki. (Okakura died on 2 September 1913 at his leisure house located at the Akakura Spar, Niigaka-ken. Okakura had left the US in May 1913— way too early for Anesaki to meet him in Boston.) On 24 October, Anesaki’s lecture “The East and West” held at the Japan Society of New York. On 12-13 November, his lecture “Buddhist Influence upon the Japanese” held at a Unitarian Clergy meeting. On 19 November, the address “Myths and Tales of Japan” given at the Ethnology Association, Boston. On 2 December, his lecture “Japanese Lady Writers in the Middle Ages” delivered at the Radcliff Society of Graduate Students. On 8 December, a welcome party for Anesaki held at the Tavern Club in downtown Boston hosted by Charles W. Eliot (1834-1926); participants included George Peabody and Edward Morse (1838-1925); the Tavern Club located at 4 Boylson Plaza is still active today with the Steward in full charge. “Nichiren: il Profeta del Buddhism Giapponee,” Coenobium, 7-7 (1913): 1-15. [Primary Anti-Japanese Land Law passed in California.]

1914: A speech given at the East Asia Association of Boston under the title of “The Idea of Moral Legacy in the Japanese Family” on 6 January. On 8 and 15 January, Anesaki’s address given at the Boston Art Museum, the title being “Buddhist Art: In its Relations to Buddhist Doctrine” (published in book form in 1915). On 14 January, an address “The Problem of Modern Japan” delivered at Boston’s Japan Conference of America. On 26 January, “Harmony between the East and West” given at the American Association of Asia conference. On 31 January, a US newspaper features Anesaki as “Buddhist Priest [sic] on Harvard’s Faculty,” saying “Physically Dr. Anesaki is not a robust type whose tremendous force of earnestness would shake a generation materialistic and indifferent; he is calm and even pale in face, tall and slender in body, a figure on whose shoulders a Buddhistic robe would fittingly lie. His still eyes express how deep and clear his thought advances. We know him to be a graceful type of a Japanese known as a Kyotoan” (The Ogden Standard, 31 Jan. 1914, Ogden, Utah); his photo available at < https://tatsushinarita.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/a-snapshot-of-masaharu-anesaki-%E5%A7%89%E5%B4%8E%E6%AD%A3%E6%B2%BB-jan-1913/. On 11 February, Anesaki’s discourse “Buddhism and Christianity in Japan” delivered at the parish church of the First Unitarian Church of Cambridge, Mass. On 2 March, the speech “The Idea of Moral Legacy in the Japanese Family” given to Clark College philosophy majors, Worcester, Mass. On 8 March, “Zen: A Variety of Buddhism” delivered at the Graduate Students’ meeting, Harvard University. At the Pennsylvania University Museum, his lecture “A General Survey of Japanese Art” given on 14 March. At the Women’s Educational Association meeting, “Art and Domestic Life in Japan” delivered on 19 March. On 22 March, “Buddhism and Christianity” given at the Society of Christianity of Cambridge, Mass. A series of speeches made under the comprehensive title of “Art and Life in Japan” at the Fogg Museum on 24 and 31 March and 7 April; to be published in book form from Marshall Jones, Boston in 1933. On 15 April, “Takayama: A Representative of religious Movement in Modern Japan” given to theology majors at Harvard. On 16 April, “The Late Empress Dowager of Japan” delivered to the Tuesday Evening Club of Boston. On 17 April, “A Report on the Two Stone Carvings from China” delivered at the Association of Asia of Boston. On 18 April, “Japanese Art: A General Survey” given at Art Department, Yale University. On 28 April, “Die Gedankenstroemungen im Modernen Japan” at the German Association of Boston meeting. Anesaki writes in April in his letter to Ninzo Naruse (1858-1919), the founder of Tokyo Women’s University, advising him not to give the impression, while he participates in a conference of world religion, that the Association Concordia be taken to be colluding with Unitarians (Isomae 265). On 23 May, “Buddhism: Its Fundamental Tenets” to Wellesely College philosophy majors. Participates in the Hokke-kai 法華会 (Society of the Lotus Sutra), which embraces Nichirenism led by lay Buddhists and headed by Saburo Yamada (1869-1965), a reliable colleague at the Imperial University, Tokyo; the Hokke-kai differentiates itself from the nationalistic Nichirenism led by Chigaku Tanaka (1861-1939) and Nissho Honda (1867-1931) (Isomae 54-55). During 3 June through 25 June, several lectures given (“The Concept of God and Human Beings,” “Various Streams of Civilization and their Contacts,” “Art, Life and Nature in Japan,” “Sanpo 三宝” (“Three Treasures of Buddhism“) and “Domestic Life in Japan”). [The “Three Treasures” means “bupposo 仏法僧,” that is Buddha, the Law (the Buddha’s teaching) and the Buddhist Order (community of believers); and the triune relationship between the three is emphasized.] In June, Anesaki leaves San Francisco for Japan. Sails from Yokohama to San Francisco in October. Delivers six lectures in Massachusetts during 9 November -11 December. An article “The Fundamental Chracter of Buddhism and its Branches” included in Second Report of the Association Concordia of Japan (1914): 17-30.

1913-14: Anesaki’s Japanese civilization course conducted at Harvard: “Religion and Poetry in Japan” (autumn); “The Religious and Moral Development of the Japanese” (winter).

1915: Delivers 21 speeches during 22 January to 22 April in Massachusetts, Chicago, Wisconsin, New York, Ohio and so forth. His speeches include “The Tendai-Buddhist Conception of Reality” given at the Philosophy Club of Harvard on 22 January. Invited to give the Haskell Lecture at the University of Chicago; Anesaki’s topic “Buddhism and its Influence upon Japanese Thought and Life” (29 January, 2- 3 and 5 February) [cf. “Japanese Art” at the University of Chicago (Haksell Lecture) on 2 February]. An address “On the Professorship of Japanese Literature and Life at Harvard” delivered at the Harvard Graduate Club of Chicago on 30 January. “Japanese Art with Illustrations” given at Lockeford University on 30 January. “Japanese Art with Illustrations” given at the Leon Hall, the University of Chicago on 1 February. The speech “University Life in Japan” made at the Courtyard Club, the University of Chicago on 3 February. “The Scientific Spirit and the Research of Social Problems” given to Japanese students at the University of Chicago on 6 February. “Japanese Art with Illustrations” given at the University of Wisconsin on 9 February. “Japanese Art in an Age of Rising Democracy” delivered at the University of Wisconsin on 10 February. “Japanese Art with Illustrations” given at Michigan University on 11 February. “Human Nature and International Peace” delivered at the Cosmopolitan Club of Michigan University on 11 February. “A Prophet of Japanese Buddhism” given at Michigan University on 12 February. “Artistic Sense in the Home Life of the Japanese” given at Cornell University on 13 February. “Buddhism and its Influence upon Japanese Thought and Life,” which consists of a series of three speeches delivered for Isabella Gardner (1840-1924) and others on 3, 6 and 10 March. (For exchange of letters between Anesaki and Gardner, see Isomae 349.) Sails from Seattle for Japan in July. Unokichi Hattori (1866-1929), Anesaki’s colleague at the Imperial University, appointed the 1915-17 Harvard civilization course successor to Anesaki.) On 16 December, Hattori writes to Anesaki, reporting that he is discussing the following successor of the Japanese civilization course with Woods; he writes in particular that they are examining Tetsujiro Inoue whom Anesaki recommended while other measures are under consideration. Buddhist Art, In its Relation to Buddhist Ideals: With Special Reference to Buddhism in Japan, Boston: Houghton, 1915, 120 pages. “[Book review of] Armstrong’s ‘Light from the East, the Studies in Japanese Confucianism,'” Harvard Theological Review 8. 4 (1915): 563-571.

1916: Starts the magazine Jinbun 人文 (the “Humanities”) in January together with historian Rinpu Sasagawa (1870-1949) and Kaishu Kuroyanagi (1871-1923), naming the publishing organization the Society of Chogyu in memory of Chogyu Takayama. On 11 June in Tokyo, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) delivers “The Mission from India to Japan,” a lecture which Anesaki asked him to deliver on 6 June when he met him on 12 June; Anesaki presents Tagore with his book Buddhist Art and discusses the relation of religion and art with him. In November, Anesaki severely criticizes for esoterism the new religion Omotokyo 大本教 which Deguchi Nao (1837-1918) founded. A devout Nichiren Buddhist, Anesaki brings out Hokekyo no Gyoja Nichiren 法華経の行者日蓮 (“Nichiren: The Man Who Lived the Life of the “Lotus of Truth”) , Tokyo: Hakubundo, 1916, 587 pages; and Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet, Harvard University Press, 1916, 167 pages. “Art and Domestic Life in Japan,” Open Court (1916): 549-560 (“Late modified & incorporated into ‘Art, Life and Nature in Japan'” (Anesaki-sensei 137)); [cf. The Open Court: Vol. 1916: Iss. 9, Article 4. whose pdf is available at <http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3094&context=ocj>.

1918: Gives more than a dozen lectures in Taiwan, 4- 22 January. Returns to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi-ken on 25 January. On 2 March, sails from Yokohama to Seattle. Gives speeches and lectures in California. Awarded the LLD from the University of California. Returns to Yokohama on 20 April. Shinjidai no Shyukyo 新時代の宗教, Tokyo: Hakubundo, 1918, 420 pages, in which Anesaki emphasizes Minponshugi (a translation term for Democracy).

1919: Anesaki’s article “Comprehensive Conclusion of 19th Century Civilization” contributed to Sekai-bunmei no Shinsekai(“A New Age of World Civilization”), Tokyo: Hakubunkan. Here he advocates “National Autonomy, International Minponshugi and Anti-Militarism.” (In the post-World War I period, two dominant parties struggled to gain power, the Kenseikai and the Seiyukai. The Kenseikai emphasized the principle of international collaboration and Minponshugi (“Democracy”) while the Yuseikai stressed Anti-foreignism (Jingoism) and Nationalism (Isomae 79-80).) Sekaibunmei no Shin-kigen 世界文明の新紀元, Tokyo: Hakubundo, 1919, 507 pages.

1923: In reply to James H. Woods, Anesaki sends a letter to him on 6 June, writing of the possibility of his eldest son Masami studying abroad and the evaluation which the Imperial University, Tokyo made about Anesaki himself. The Religious and Social Problems of the Orient: Four Lectures Given at the University of California under the Auspices of the Earl Foundation, Pacific School of Religion, New York: Macmillan, 1923, 85 pages. In this book Anesaki reveals his recent concern with reference to Kakuzo Tenshin Okakura: “Okakura, in his ‘The Ideals of the East,’ said: ‘Asia is one’– i. e., one in her spiritual ideas. But that is true no more. Asia is divided in religion and in many other things, and if there is any oneness or likeness in the peoples of Asia, it is due to their contact with Occidental civilization, and that oneness consists in the common loss of equilibrium brought about by the new system of industry, science, and democracy, as has been explained. This newer oneness means that the old religion have lost their position of dominance and are being controlled or disturbed by the social changes that are taking place” (54). In September the Great Kanto Earthquake struck when Anesaki stayed at his own home in Kamakura. “Religions of Japan,” Encyclopaedia Americana, vol. 15. “L’Agitation sociale et L’inquietude spirituelle au Japan d’Aujourd’ ui,” La Vie des Peuples, no. 42.

1923-34: Director, the Imperial University of Tokyo Libraries.

1924: “Exclusion from the Japanese Viewpoint,” The Christian Century (a magazine in Chicago, MI), June 19 reports Anesaki’s view of the anti-Japanese immigration act that passed in the US in May. (Charles A. Ellwood, President, American Association of Sociology recommended the reporting of Anesaki’s view to the editor of the journal (cf. Isomae 81-2, 352, 372))

1925: Leaves Yokohama for San Francisco in May. Departs San Francisco for Yokohama in July due to an urgent University Library matter. Anesaki’s paper “Buddhism Confronting Racial Problems and Various Issues between Nations” presented by deputy on 2 July at the Round Table session of the First Pacific Congress (Honolulu Congress) sponsored by the Institute of the Pacific Relations. The Extermination of Kirishitans and their Survivals (in Japanese), Tokyo. Reaps here a rich harvest, starting from the mid-1920s, from his studies of Kirishitan based on the first-hand materials he examined at various areas of Japan. Kirishitan-shumon no Hakugai to Senpuku 切支宗門の迫害と潜伏, Tokyo: Dobunkan, 1925, 401 pages. Genshin-butsu to Hosshin-butsu現身仏と法身仏 (revised edition), Tokyo: Maekawa-bun-eido, 1925, 389 pages.

1926: On 25 March, sends a letter to Henry James, son of William James, writing of the way books by William James have been translated in Japan. The End of the Persecution of Kirishitans, Tokyo. At age 49, Anesaki starts to explore very widely Kirishitan-related areas in Japan, including Yonezawa, Morioka, Yamagata, Akita and so forth. “Extermination of the Japanese Catholics in the Last Half of the Seventeenth Century and their Survivals,” Proceedings of the Imperial Academy (PIA) 2-3 (1926): 193-194. “Some More Documents on the Kirishitan Prosecute in the Last Half of the Seventeenth Century,” PIA 2-5 (1926): 193-194. “Exile and Mission, Some Instances of their Connetion under a Regime of Persecution,” PIA 2-7 (1926): 299-301. “Notes on Joan Goto and Some Kirishitans in the Noth-east,” PIA 2-9 (1926): 459-462. Kirishitan Kinsei no Shumatsu 切支丹禁制の終末, Tokyo: Dobunkan, 1926, 270 pages.

1927: Very widely explores those Kirishitan-related areas of Japan like Settsu, Yamato-Kunisawa, Hachijo-jima, Omura, Shizuoka-shi and so forth. “Geographical Names in the Records of Catholic Missions in Japan in the Seventeenth Century,” PIA 3-1 (1927): 1-5. “The Fates of Some of the Leading Kirishitans who signed the Barberini Documents of 1620-21,” PIA 3-5 (1927): 247-250. “Kirishitan Missons in the Mines,” PIA 3-8 (1927): 477-479. “Some Confirmatory Light upon the Records of Kirishitan Missions from Japanese Sources: 1. The Omura Documents,” PIA 3-9 (1927): 579-581. “Some Confirmatory Light upon the Records of Kirishitan Missions: 2. A Japanese Record on the Persecution Preceding the Shimabara Insurrection: 3. The Arrest and Investigation of the Padres Following th Shimabara Insurrection,” PIA 3-10 (1927): 637-642.

1928: “Japanese Mythology,” Mythology of All Racs 8 (1928): 207-365; vol. 8 is entitled “Chinese, Japanese”; Anesaki is described as “Japanese Exchange Professor at Harvard University 1913-1915.” [Cf. “The Japanese Mythology,” Mythology of All Races, Boston: Marshall Jones.] Awarded L’ordre national de la légion d’honneur from the French government. “Some Confirmatory Light upon the Records of Kirishitan Missions: 4. Kirishitan Legends in Fudohama,” PIA 4-1 (1928): 1-3. “Exaggerations in the Japanese Accounts of the Kirishitan Propaganda,” PIA 4-3 (1928): 85-88. “Some Confirmatory Light upon the Records of Kirishitan Missions: 5. Documents and Legends from Mino and Owari,” PIA 4-2 (1928): 31-33. “Some Conformatory Light upon the Records of Kirishitan Missions: 6. Medical Service and Japanese physicians The ‘Kori Debacle,’ the Last Stage of the Persecution of Kirishitans in Omura,” PIA 4-7 (1928): 319-321; “Collab. K. Takamura” (Anesaki-sensei 141).

1930: The Society of Chofu founded on 10 May. A Concordance to the History of Kirishitan Missions (Supplementary volume to the Proceedings of the Imperial Academy), Tokyo; A Concordance to the History of Kirishitan, Tokyo: Missions Office of the Academy, 1930, 225 pages; “Supplement to vol. 6 of PIA” [Anesaki-sensei 141]. “Japanese Criticism & Refutations of Christianity in the 17th & 18th Centuries,” TASJ, second series, vol. 7 (1930): 1-15. “Confucian Refutation of Christianity in Japan in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centures,” PIA 6-1 (1930): 1-3. “A Refutation of Christianity Attributed to Christovao Ferreira, the Apostate Padre,” PIA 6-2 (1930): 27-30. History of Japanese Religion: With Special Reference to the Social and Moral Life of the Nation, London: Kegan Paul, 1930, 434 pages. “Buddhism,” Seligmana’s Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 3 [no pages shown in Waga 143]. Kirishitan Dendo no Kohai 切支丹伝道の興廃, Tokyo: Dobunkan, 1930, 842 pages. Annotates Nichiren-shonin Monsho 日蓮上人文抄, Tokyo: Iwanami-shoten, 1930, 246 pages. Kirishitan Hakugaishi-chu no Jinbuntsu Jiseki 切支丹迫害史中の人物事跡, Tokyo: Dobunkan, 599 pages.

1931: An obituary written in Japanese for Sir Charles Norton Edgecumbe Eliot (1864-1931), Shukyo-gaku Kenkyu, 8-3; Sir Eliot having been British Ambassador to Japan in 1919–1925. “Writings of Martyrdom in Kirishitan Literature,” TASJ, second series, 8 (1931): 20-65 (“Repr. from TASJ” (Anesaki-sensei 142)). “Etat present des Assocation religieuses au Japan,” Au tour du Monde, no. 17 (“French tr. of the last part of the History of Japanese Religion” (Anesaki-sensei 142)).

1933: On 13 May the speech “Chishiki no Tsuikyu to Seimei no Mondai 知識の追求と生命の問題” (“Pursuit of Knowledge and Issues of Life”) made at the Association of Libraries conference hosted by the government of Nagoya City. Leaves Yokohama for Vancouver on 2 August. Participates in the 5th Pacific Congress held at Banff, Alberta, Canada, 14-23 August. Attends the World Fellowship of Faith Congress held in Chicago, 27-30 August, together with Hideo Kishimoto (1903-64), son of Anesaki’s friend Nobuta Kishimoto (an eminent Unitarian thinker of Japan), and Shozen Nakayama (1905-69), the Shinbashira of Tenrikyo and the grandson of Tenrikyo’s founder Miki Nakayama (1798-1887). [Hideo Kishimoto married Miyo (or Miyoko) Anesaki, the eldest daughter of Anesaki.] Meets Arthur Woods (1872-1942) (who is younger brother of James H. Woods) and Japanologist Sidney Lewis Gulick (1860-1945) in New York; Nobuta Kishimoto and James H. Woods in Cambridge, Mass; Inazo Nitobe (1862-1933) in Victoria. Leaves Vancouver for Yokohama on 23 September. Anesaki visits overseas every year beginning with this year through 1939. Art, Life and Nature in Japan, Boston: Marshall Jones, 1933, 195 pages. “Two Kirishitan Documents Discovered at Takatsuki,” PIA 9-7 (1933): 285-288. “Shinto,” Seligman’s Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. Kaiteiban Hokekyo no Gyoja Nichiren 改訂新版法華経の行者日蓮, Tokyo: Hakubunkan, 1933, 677 pages. Oyomei Hyakushu Unpa Eiso 王陽明百首 雲波詠草, Tokyo: Herarudo-sha, 1933, 55 pages.

1934: Retires from the Imperial University of Tokyo on 30 March. Sails from Yokohama for Vancouver on 7 June. Visits Cambridge in Massachusetts, the Rockefeller Foundation in New York, the Buckingham Palace in London to attend a banquet. Meets sociologist Marcel Mauss of College de France (1878-1950) and the anthropologist Wilhelm Schmidt (1868-1954) at an ethnological conference. After visiting England, the Netherlands and Germany, returns to Kobe on 5 October. Katam Karaniyam: Lectures, Essays and Studies, Tokyo: Herald Press, 1934 (December), 322 pages. “Religous Ideals and Actualities of Life (& Foreword),” Commemoration Volume, the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Foundation of the Professorship of Science of Religion in Tokyo Imperial University (1934): 273-279. Tabi Makura たびまくら (“My Tavel Diary”), Tokyo: Herarudo-sha, 1934, 174 pages. Ibenshu 已弁集, Tokyo: Daito-shuppansha,1934, 561 pages.

1936: Pays tribute together with several friends to the late James H. Woods on 14 January, the first anniversary of his death. Departs from Yokohama to Vancouver on 4 June. Attends the World Fellowship through Religion conference, 6-11 July. Hospitalized at University of London Hospital to receive an operation on his tongue, 5-12 August. On 7 September at Harvard, delivers “East and West: The Meaning of their Cultural Relations,” to be included in Independence, Convergence and Borrowing in Institutions, Thought and Art (Harvard Tercentenary Conference of Arts and Sciences), ed. Frederick Maurice et al, Harvard University Press, 1937. Awarded the Doctor of Letters degree by Harvard University on 18 September, together with the bacteriologist Kiyoshi Shiga (1871-1957). Gives a lecture at Seattle. Departs Seattle and arrives at Yokohama on 11 October. The paper “The Present Crisis of Culture in Japan,” ASIA, September, 1936 (published by the American Asiatic Association). “Psychological Obervation on the Persecution of the Catholics in Japan in the 17th Century,” Harvard Journal of Asicatic Studies, 1-1 (1936): 13-27. “Psychological Observations on the Persecution of the Catholics in Japan in the 17th Century,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 1-1 (1936): 13-27. “Has There Ever Been Handed Down a Holograph Copy of Prince Shotoku’s ‘Constitution in Seventeen Articles?'” PIA 12-2 (1936): 31-32. Tabimakura Daisan-shu たびまくら 第三集, Tokyo: Herarudosha, 1936, 158 pages.

1937: On 25 May, with the construction of a memorial pagoda for James H. Woods completed in the Homyo-in 法明院 Buddhist Monastery, a part of the Miidera Temple (otherwise known as the Onjoji Temple) at Otsu, Shiga-ken (quite near Kyoto), Anesaki holds a memorial service for him on 25 May. It was here at the Myoho-in that Woods received the Buddhist precepts and the Buddhist name Enmyoin-kiaranja-koji 円妙院正輝阿蘭若居士. It was in 1934 that Woods visited Japan to study Tendai Mikkyo 天台密教. (Snapshots of the Myoho-in and Woods’ and Bigelow’s pagoda are available on the website: http://everkyoto.web.fc2.com/report1038.html). (There is a pagoda in memory of Ernest Fenollosa (1853-1908) in the same Monastery, who received the precepts and name of Buddhism from Sakurai Ajari 桜井阿闍梨. Together with Fenolossa, William Sturgis Bigelow (1850-1925) also received the precepts. The snapshot of Fenolosa’s pagoda available at: http://hakamairu.shigabunka.net/e568161.html). Anesaki sails from Moji for Paris on 29 May, arriving at Marseille on 4 July. In Paris, attends conferences. In London, visits an old student of Anesaki’s, the world’s eminent poet T. S. Eliot on 20 August. Boarding the Normandy, Anesaki arrives at New York on 30 August. Visits Columbia University and then University of Hawaii. Returns to Yokohama on 24 September. Tabimakura Daiyon-shuたびまくら 第四集, Tokyo: Herarudosha, 1936, 150 pages.

1939: Departs Yokohama for London on 19 March. Hears Hitler’s speech on the radio in New York and felt very anxious. Participates in a conference in Brussels, gives a lecture in Balliol College, Oxford and delivers an address “The Fundamentals of Buddhist Culture in Japan” at Rhodes House, Oxford. With the war between Britain and Germany erupting, rushes to Poole near Bournemouth, Dorsetshire to seek safety, on 1 September. After a stay of one month there, sails from Liverpool on 10 October together with his daughter and her family. Returns to Yokohama at the end of November. Sozan Koshin-shu 艸山孝心集 , Tokyo: Herarudosha, 1939, 104 pages. Tabimakura Dairoku-shuたびまくら 第六集, Tokyo: Herarudosha, 1939, 158 pages.

1939-49: Made Member of the House of Peers of Japan, representing the Imperial Academy of Japan.

1942: The Association Concordia dissolves. “The Buddhist Ideal of the Attainment of Buddhahood by the Land and Plants in its Relation to the Idea that Japan is the Land of Kami, as Seen in the Noh Plays,” PIA 18-2 (1942): 31-36. “The Ideas Underlying the Ideal Leadership as Conceived by Prince Shotoku,” PIA 18-4 (1942): 155-163. “Shinto Ideals as Seen in the Noh Plays,” PIA 18-7 (1942): 327-332. “Thought and Act in the Life of the Ideal Leadership as Coceived by Prince Shotoku,” PIA 18-8 (1942): 429-434.

1943: “The Foundation of Buddhist Culture in Japan,” Monument Nipponica (Sophia/Jochi University, Tokyo); this issue of the journal features Anesaki. “Educative Measures for Spiritual Edification and its Consummation in the Life of the Ideal Leadership as Conceived by Prince Shotoku,” PIA 19-1 (1943): 1-5. “Prince Shotoku’s Conception of the Ideal Leadership in Reference to the Doctrine of its Ten Stages,” PIA 19-7 (1943): 321-325. “On the Statements on Prince Shotoku’s Buddhist Learning in the Howo Teisetsu,” PIA 19-9 (1943): 505-509. Edits Gohen Sozan Koshin-shu 彙編艸山詩集 (上・下), Herarujishoten, 1939, 1130 pages.

1945: While Anesaki stayed at Minobusan, Yamanashi-ken, World War II came to an end; on 8 August he hears with his son-in-law Hideo Kishimoto (Associate Professor of Religion at the Imperial University of Tokyo) the Emperor Hirohito broadcasting Japan’s surrender.

Isomae, Jun’ichi and Hidetaka Fukazawa, Kindai Nihon no Chishikijin to Shukyo: Anesaki Masaharu no Kiseki (“Intellectuals and Religion in Modern Japan: The Trajectory of Masaharu Anesaki”). Tokyo: Tokyo-do, 2002.

Isomae, Jun’ichi. “The Discursive Position of Religious Studies in Japan: Masaharu Anesaki and the Origin of Religious Studies.” (Translation by Seth Jacobowitz). Method and Theory in the Study of Religion (1 March 2002): 21-46.

My deep appreciation goes to the invaluable book Kindai Nihon no Chishikijin to Shukyo: Anesaki Masaharu no Kiseki (Tokyo: Tokyodo Shuppan, 2002). I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the authors Junichi Isomura and Hidetaka Fukazawa.

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Masaharu Anesaki and Unitarianism: His Views on the Unitarian Mission to Japan and his Links with the Unitarianism of the US, in particular, of the Boston area. —- (1) As a young boy at Kyoto, Anesaki studied English under Kinza Hirai, who years later converted to Unitarianism and taught at the (Unitarian) Senshin Gakuin (“Senshin Academy“), Tokyo. (2) In 1897, Anesaki was appointed a lecturer at the Senshin Gakuin; on 4 December, Anesaki participated in the welcome party in honor of Clay MacCauley (Director, Senshin Gakuin), who just returned to Tokyo from a short stay in the US. (3) One of Anesaki’s best friends Nobuta Kishimoto, years after his studies at Harvard, also turned Unitarian. Kishimoto’s son, Hideo Kishimoto, who does not seem to have cherished Unitarianism, but who married Anesaki’s daughter was to be appointed the immediate successor to Anesaki’s faculty chair position as professor of religion at the Imperial University, Tokyo. (4) In 1898, Anesaki helped found the Shakaishugi Kenkyu-kai (literally “Socialism Research Society of Japan“) together with Kishimoto and few others including Tomoyoshi Murai, Iso Abe and Shusui Kotoku. Murai and Abe were both very active leading members of the (Unitarian) Unity Hall/Senshin Gakuin group. In 1899 Kishimoto published his pioneering book Studies of Religion, influencing Anesaki in bringing out his own book Shukyogaku Gairon (“An Introduction to the Science of Religion“) in the following year. Kishimoto was the co-founder of the Society of Comparative Religion of Japan together with Anesaki. (5) Anesaki was in a position in which he was able to familiarize himself with the way Yukichi Fukuzawa invited Unitarian scholars from Harvard in his effort to establish Keio Gijuku University. Was Anesaki aware of the fact that Sutejiro Fukuzawa (1865-1926), second son of Yukichi Fukuzawa had been visibly active in Boston as a prospective Unitarian? (6) Was Anesaki aware of the visit which T. S. Eliot’s namesake uncle Thomas Lamb Eliot made to Japan? While Anesaki was on his voyage back to Yokohama from Mumbai, Thomas came to Japan in March 1903, supervising its Unitarian movement. He visited not only Tokyo but also Osaka and Kyoto in April and May. It was Samuel Eliot, son of Charles W. Eliot, President, Harvard College that decided to send Thomas to Japan in 1902. Thomas had been on the “Foreign Commission” during 1891-1896 (Narita, Eriotto 61); on the Board of Directors, AUA during 1891-1893 (Eriotto 60). George B. Bachelor was Thomas’ colleague at AUA; Foreign Missions, 1893-1894 when Thomas was a member; Thomas was his incoming successor (Eriotto 61). The name “Reynolds” to whom Arthur Clay Knapp frequently addresses his letters should be “Grindall Reynolds.” (7) In an encyclopedia of philosophy brought out in Japan in 1912 (Tetsugaku Daijiten), Anesaki contributed the article entitled “Socinus Relius and Faustus,” the initiators of Socinianism which is basically non-Trinitarian like Unitarianism after it. (8) While, during 1913-1914, staying at Harvard, Anesaki should have become fully knowledgeable about the way Unitariansm prevailed in the Boston area and particularly the way Harvard had played in upholding Unitarianism ever since 1825. On 12-13 November 1913, Anesaki gave a lecture entitled “Buddhist Influence upon the Japanese” at a Unitarian Clergy meeting in Boston. On 11 February, he delivered a lecture entitled “Buddhism and Christianity in Japan” at the parish church of the First Unitarian Church of Cambridge, Mass. There is no way Anesaki was unacquainted with the historical part which the Church contituned to play in order to advance Unitarianism. (9) It is noteworthy that Anesaki was careful so that his Concordia Society movement should not be taken to be colluding with Unitarians (as shown in his letter to Jinzo Naruse of 1914). (10) In 1919 James Woods recommended T. S. Eliot to be hired at the philosophy faculty of Harvard. It was Ralph Barton Perry with whom Anesaki had acqaintance on good terms. (11) Given the fact that Anesaki was keenly conscious of being part of the world’s eminent scholars who pioneered the science of comparative religion, he should have established his own individual attitude toward Unitarianism. Cf. If I am correct, Anesaki seems to have left no particular remarks about Emerson the Transcendentalist.

Kinza Hirai and Masaharu Anesaki. —- (1) As a young boy in Kyoto Anesaki learned at Hirai’s Oriental Hall. (2) Hirai emphasized Spenser’s evolutionary view. In 1898 Hirai and Anesaki were literary coteries of the same Research Society of Socialism. As persuaded by Saji, Hirai turned Unitarian in 1899. (3) Hirai was strongly attracted by the theosophical thought as set forth by Henry Scott Olcott. He set up a committee to call him in to Japan and suceeded in so doing in 1887. All this reminds us of Anesaki’s attraction to Annie Besant. (4) In 1893, Hirai presents his view of Buddhism at the Theosophical Society meeting in Los Angeles. (5) The motto of Hirai’s movement “synthetic religion” might have continued to be essential part of Anesaki’s thinking. Cf. “synthetic religion” as a motto of a religious movement, a motto to be contrasted with belief in a specific religion. (6) In 1899, Anesaki was lecturer at the Unitairan Senshu Gakuin which Clay MacCauley operated.

Anesaki and his concern with Annie Dessant—–. There can be no doubt that Anesaki embraced an extreme interest in theosophy. Despite the blame he got from Eduard von Hartmann in 1902 for his concern with theosophy he nevertheless visited Dessant at her headquarter house of the theosophical society.

T. S. Eliot and Helena Blavatsky. —- (1) TSE’s reference to Blavatsky in “Cooking Egg.” (2) “Madam Sosostris” in The Waste Land. (3) An interim premise to be made for a while: The Theosophical Society movement to be viewed not primarily as occult but as an effort to bridge between Buddhism and Christianity (cf. Yoshinaga, Kanai Kakenhi 11) or to bridge all the multiple warring religions. Stephen Prothero, The White Buddhist: The Asian Oddysey of Henry Steel Olcott. (4) Cf. Eliot’s “conversion” to Bergsonism; the supposed synthesis of spiritual and material as set forth by Bergson (Jonathan J. Childs, T. S. Eliot, Mystic, Son and Lovers 16-17).

Masaharu Anesaki and his Possible Comparison of Buddhism with Unitarianism.—- (1) “Nor had the New Testament been spared, for the authenticity of most of it seemed to be held in doubt, while the Godhead of Christ had declined from Bishop Gore’s doubtfully conservative estimate in Lux Mundi to the near-Unitarianism of Canon Streeter. Many, of course, rose in defence of the old orthodoxy, but they were hampered by the grave-clothes of a Protestant theory of literal inspiration. It had been the letter rather than science which some years earlier had killed Bishop Wilberforce’s challenge to the British Association.” (Sheila Kaye-Smith, All the Books of My Life, New York: Harper, 1956) (2) “ERASMUS DARWIN, the physician, and grandfather of the great Charles Darwin, was born on December 12, 1731. His death took place on April 10, 1802. While driving from patient to patient, Erasmus Darwin composed a lengthy Poem, in which he anticipated many of the ideas of modern evolution. His skepticism was strongly pronounced. He believed in God, but not in Christianity. Even the Unitarians were too orthodox for him; indeed, he called Unitarianism a feather-bed to catch a falling Christian.” (Web: Foote, G. W. and A. D. McLaren, Infidel Death-Beds, Pioneer Press)

T. S. Eliot and Masaharu Anesaki.—- Cf. (1) Years after the two people met during 1913-1914 at Harvard, Anesaki made an effort to meet again, visiting the poet in London in 1937. (2) What was the most powerful impact that Eliot felt about Anesaki speaking of Buddhism and the Far East Culture? Years ago, when Eliot as a middle-teenager in St. Louis, he, being confronted with “primitive” Igorot people from the Philippines, was especially fascinated with their tribal dance called the gangsa dance. Seven years later (in May 1911), Eliot incorporated the dancing as “Inside my brain a dull tom-tom begins/ Absurdly hammering a prelude of its own” in his “Portrait of a Lady.” (Note: the supposed male speaker was not fascinated by the lady but somehow he is captured deep-down by the namesake instrument despite its “absurdly hammering” the prelude.) Years later, he defined poetry as “Poetry begins, I dare say, with a savage beating a drum in the jungle” (The Use of Poety and the Use of Criticism). In much the same way, it is most likely that Eliot was fated to be confronted with and fascinated by the Mahayana Buddhism. As intrinsic part of the influence of Mahayana Buddhism on Eliot the poet, confer Tatsuo Tamura on the “three white leopards” (Ash Wednessday). For details, see my “Shashin Shiko” at <https://tatsushinarita.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=3939&action=edit>. Did it come into T. S. Eliot’s notice that Anesaki had been concerned with Annie Besant sufficiently enough to visit the successoer to Blatatsky in India back in 1902? There can be no doubt that Anesaki did not intend to hide such a concern.

T. S. Eliot and James H. Woods.—-Eliot spent several semisters in studying Indology with Woods during 1913-14. In 1919, Woods recommended Eliot to a post of the Philosophy Department of Harvard (in a letter to Ralph Barton Perry on 4 Feb. 1919). What evaluation did Woods make about Eliot, in particular the way Eliot researched Bradley, creating modern poetry in London and establishing himself soon as the poet of The Waste Land? What links did the Indic Philology Department have with the Department of Philosophy? Did Woods have some opportunities to speak of Eliot in his correspondence with Masaharu Anesaki? (Harry T. Costello recorded the way the Josiah Royce’s seminar was conducted at Harvard. Was there someone else who recorded Wood’s classes or for that matter Anesaki’s course?)

In 1937 Anesaki visits with T. S. Eliot in London.—As is widely known, as a graduate student at Harvard Eliot attended James Woods’ class of Patanjali. (1) When the two met after years of absence, there is no doubt that Anesaki spoke in detail of Woods and the latest phase of the life he spent and the following sudden death, in Japan. Did Anesaki refer to the fact that Woods became a devout Buddhist and was buried at Kyoto? Also, Anesaki’s son-in-law Hideo Kishimoto had close links with Woods; he studied under Woods at Harvard during 1931-34, earning his Ph. D. by studying the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, the subject T. S. Eliot sdudied with Woods. (2) What was the response on Eliot’s part? Quite likely the two spoke on an other enormous range of subjects as well. Did they spoke of mutual acquaintances? Did it come under Anesaki’s notice, for example, that the poet had close connections with Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard? Back in 1912 Anesaki’s Association Concordia succeeded in establishing its branch in America, a branch in which Charles was a member; as Anesaki was appointed as faculty at Harvard in the following year, Charles hosted the welcome party for Anesaki. (3) Whenever visiting England Anesaki always made it a rule to see his second daughter Toshiko (who married Koichi Kaji) and her family living in the suburbs of London (Isomae 100-101)). Cf. In 1937 Eliot was turning attention to the creation of a modern drama in a modern setting.

T. S. Eliot’s Radical Departure from Unitarianism.—- Cf. As Frederick May Eliot (President, American Unitarian Association, 1937-58) testifies, “by the time Eliot entered Harvard in 1906, he was “completely indifferent to Unitarianism” (Powel 4; Narita, Autonomy 139). Frederick (1889-1958) is TSE’s cousin and had been a very close playmate since TSE’s father Henry Ware Eliot and TSE’s uncle Christopher Dawes Eliot enjoyed summering together annually on the same camp of the Canadian side of Lake Memphremagog (Morris 72-73; Valerie Eliot’s letter dated 27 July 1982, addressed to Tatsushi Narita, in which letter she mentions Eliot’s camping on the Canadian border in 1904). Regarding evidence to show the bosom friendship as very young men between Frederick and TSE, see the snapshot featured in Ackroyd’s biography of T. S. Eliot (Illustration 13). It would make a very fascinating essay if we succeed in giving a comparative description of Frederick and TSE, focusing on the trajectory that the two years later were extremely antagonistic as a leader of liberalism in the US and traditional conservatism in Britain and Europe respectively.

Russell, T. S. Eliot and Wittgenstein: Their Relevance to the New Frontier of Mahayana Buddhism research in the 1960’s. —-Cf. Tuck 28-30 and 35-38.

The topic of martyrdom: Anesaki and T. S. Eliot.—-Anesaki seems to have been captivated by the topic of Kirishitan history quite suddenly, beginning with 1927 and 1928. It should make a fascinating essay to compare Eliot’s interest in Thomas Becket’s matrydom with Anesaki’s concern with Kirishitan martyrdoms.

Shoko Watanabe on Masaharu Anesaki.—– In his book Bukkyo (“Buddhism“) (1972) Watanabe writes on the influences of Pali text research on Japan– the Pali text research launched by A. K. Rhys Davies as expressed in his Buddhism (1880) and H. Oldenberg (his Buddhism published in 1881). Ever since, in Japan, Anesaki advocated Primitive Buddhism by specifically calling it Konpon Bukkyo 根本仏教 in 1908, a new look at Buddhism based on the comparison of Pali texts and translations of Chinese Agon scriptures started, giving rise to an active academic debate in the 1920s. Scholars involved in the debate included Taiken Kimura, Chizen Akanuma, Hakuju Ui and Tetsuro Watsuji. Watanabe claims that since there are a variety of reliable scriptures other than scriptures on which Anesaki and others relied, it is one-sided to advocate primitive Buddhism by drawing only on the comparison of Pali texts and Chinese Agon scriptures (Bukkyo 24-36). Much earlier in his Shin Shakuson Den (1966), Watanabe criticizes the narrow positivism of the late 19th century with which to ignore and cut off what simply appears to be superstitious (16-17). In 1967, he also points out that Pali texts were established as late as the 5th century and that there exists no evidence so far to show that Pali texts and Hinayana established themselves by far earlier than Mahayana (Okyo no Hanashi 20-23). Watanabe also claims that in India the Pali text group represented only one of several groups (Bukkyo 2, “Translator’s Postscript” 158). All this might be reason why Anesaki is criticized for his failure to really establish the science of religion in Japan. Watanabe goes on to say that Anesaki’s systematic and theoretical work surprisingly ends as early as 1900 when he published his Shukyogaku Gairon (Anesaki Masaharu Shu vol. 9). All this raises a question: In what way did Anesaki evaluated his own approach to the Agon scriptures and, in the last analysis, to Fundamental Buddhism? How T. S. Eliot came to evaluate Anesaki and his school of thinking as he pondered much over the conversion to Buddhism in the early 1920s? (It would be fairly important to pay attention that being dedicated to Indic studies, as a graduate not of the philosophy department or religion department, Watanabe seems to have placed priority to Primitive Buddhism as was prevailing in India and not primarily in the Southeast Asia.)